Do you have a Blackberry device previously used in a corporate environment? Does this device have certain security settings that you can’t seem to control? Have you tried to completely reinstall the device software and still find that certain security settings remain locked? If you answered yes to any of these questions, then you probably have a device that was once loaded with an “IT policy” created by the Blackberry Enterprise Server (BES) administrator who managed the environment your Blackberry once called home. Of course, you might already know this but what you probably don’t know is how to remove this stubborn “IT policy.” Fortunately, I do believe I found the answer.

Filed under: How-To & Tech Tips

Another “get rich quick scheme”, or is it? IdeaFry offers a free blogging platform for would-be bloggers similar to other free services such as WordPress.com. The big benefit for users is the easy integration of Google Adsense ads. And while you might think that IdeaFry plans to “middle-man” the ads, that is NOT the case.

Filed under: Friday Finds

Windows Vista has taken a lot of abuse since it first came out. And even though I had never used Vista myself, I believed the negative comments without question and even joined in the mud slinging a few times. But was I right to accept the negative comments without trying it for myself? Obviously the answer was “no.” And since I was starting to hate my current installation of XP Professional, I decided the time was ripe to take the Vista plunge and confirm or negate everything I heard for myself.

Filed under: Tech Commentary

The Podcast Answer Man podcast from GSPN.tv recently had the good fortunate to interview Bob Heil, the creator of a complete line of Heil microphones. Regardless if you have any interest in high-end microphones or not, the interview is a “must listen.”

Filed under: Friday Finds

Well, I meant to simply upgrade to WordPress 2.5.1 but my hosting provider already made the leap to 2.6. And while I would have preferred to upgrade to 2.5.1 and wait for 2.6 to prove itself in the field, I decided to “live on the edge” and just upgrade. Overall the end result wasn’t bad but the Akismet anti-spam plug-in seems to have a problem.

Filed under: TechTraction News

I’ve been dying for an affordable way to connect my iPod to my car stereo that doesn’t involve the low-fi audio option of an FM transmitter. For the family’s Volkswagon Eurovan a standard “rip-n-replace” was the most affordable option. Fortunately, that approach wasn’t necessary for the family’s second car because all I needed was an inexpensive adapter for my Pioneer DEH-P3500 to achieve the desired results.

Filed under: How-To & Tech Tips

If you’ve ever wanted to “download” a YouTube for whatever reason, then check out this post over at MakeUseOf.com. The post reviews 4 online services to help download a YouTube video. Each service is briefly reviewed and links directly to their respective web sites are also provided.

Filed under: Friday Finds

Back on July 2, 2008 I documented a problem with Google Maps not loading in Firefox 3 caused by the Skype extension. The problem was originally reported to Firefox’s bugzilla problem reporting system but later closed when the problem’s root cause was determined to be the Skype extension and not Firefox. I reported the problem to Skype support and recently received a response in which Skype confimed the problem and provided a link to the latest hotfix.

Filed under: How-To & Tech Tips

UStream LogoThe popular free webcasting stream service, UStream, recently made some design changes to their web site. If you have an account, and added your own custom header image to your show page, then take a closer look at your page. Since the update, some header images are getting cut off.

Filed under: How-To & Tech Tips

Thinking about uninstalling that bloated virus scanning application but don’t because you still want to scan on occasional file for viruses? Virus Total, an online virus scanning service, might just be what you’re looking for.

Filed under: Friday Finds